New blog focus -- food!

Ok, guys, you're going to be so excited. I think I've actually found a focus for my blog. I was telling Jessa the other night that I haven't been able to find anything to consistently blog about, and that's why I've done such a terrible job keeping up with it. Well, now I think I've figured it out! Cooking! It might seem weird, but it's something I do all the time. I consistently try new recipes while making our tried-and-true favorites (like Paula Deen's mac and cheese). Just about every week, I try to find a new recipe, and I usually plan my shopping list according to what recipes I want to make. I guess it's kind of my creative outlet. Anyhow, y'all can benefit from the extra pounds! :)

Tonight, I made both: a new recipe and a tried-and-true favorite. The new recipe is onion-baked pork chops -- amazing. The favorite is Paula Deen's mac-n-cheese -- heavenly. My jeans feel a little bit tighter after cooking (and eating!) that stuff, but man, was it good.

*Disclaimer: none of these photos are mine, but I tried to find photos that looked like what the food ends up looking like. 

First recipe: Onion-baked pork chops. This seriously might be my new favorite pork chop recipe. Soooooo good. And very, very simple! I bet this breading would be good with chicken as well.

Ingredients:

*1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

*1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs -- very good)

*4 pork chops 

*1 egg, well beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking dish with Pam. In small bowl, combine soup mix and bread crumbs. Dip chops in egg, then in bread crumb mixture until evenly coated. 

2. Arrange chops in baking dish. 

3. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until done, turning once halfway through.

Second recipe: Paula Deen's Mac and Cheese! This is pretty much the perfect mac and cheese. 

Ingredients: 

*2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-oz box will do fine)

*2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (about a bag and a half)

*3 eggs, beaten

*1/2 cup sour cream (half an 8-oz container)

*1 10.75-oz can condensed Cheddar cheese soup

*4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces (1/2 stick)

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*1 cup whole milk (I'm sure you could use fat-free or whatever you have)

*1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

*1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with Pam.

2. Boil macaroni until tender. Drain. Return macaroni to saucepan and add 2 cups of cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Add sour cream, soup, butter, salt, milk, mustard, pepper and eggs, and stir well. (I add the eggs last so that the macaroni will have cooled and the eggs won't start cooking from the heat.)

3. Pour the macaroni mixture into the baking dish. Smooth the top and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 40 minutes until browned and bubbly.

New update -- aren't you excited?

Yes, I decided to blog again, mostly because I was afraid my fellow Core Groupies would get mad at me if I didn't. 

To give y'all an update on my cousin Lisa, she's doing OK. Not great, but OK. She still misses Noah terribly, but I think Ethan's been really wonderful for her during this time. And of course, her sweet husband, David. Here's a link to her blog if any of you want to see: http://houseofcollinsworth.blogspot.com/. 

In other news, a very good co-worker/friend of mine might be leaving soon -- and I'm pretty bummed out by that. We've gotten to be good friends in the time she's been there, and I'd hate to see her go. If she does decide to leave, though, it'll be for a great opportunity, so I guess I can't be mad at her. Just kind of sad. 

I guess it's kind of like a mass exodus from my life, actually -- one co-worker left about a month ago, another announced that he's gotten another job and will be leaving soon, and then the third one is the girl I just told y'all about. Plus Meg, my maid of honor, will be here for about another two weeks and then she's going back to Auburn for fall classes ... :( I'm going to miss her terribly! Her being here has been one of the best things about this summer. 

Patrick is about to start a week of vacation -- today was his last day of work and then tomorrow he's got to do something small for a co-worker, but then he's officially off! He'll be playing a lot of NCAA Football 2010 and the Sims 3 and probably watching a lot of "X-Files." I hope he really enjoys it -- I know work's been stressful for him. 

Oh, and my little brother is hopefully taking his driver's license test by the end of this week! He went to Gatlinburg with my parents and drove a lot of the way, so I bet he's ready to ace that test by now!

OK, I know, I suck.

OK, I know I totally suck. Sorry it's been, like, two months since I updated last. But maybe I'll have a lot to say, right? :)

First of all, I now have a Twitter account. If any of you have Twitter and want to follow me or just want to check it out, my handle is amyjones17. It's mostly just a micro-blog that I update a few times a day. I don't know, Tweeting is a lot easier than blogging ... especially since I can do it from my cell phone and can only write, maybe, two or three sentences. PERFECT!

We are so excited about Momma Goldberg's Deli opening soon!! Patrick and I plan on going out there whenever we can, especially to support Hal and Maghan! We're looking forward to quite a few Core Group gatherings!!

As I'm sure you all know, Patrick and I thoroughly enjoyed Jessa's surprise 30th birthday party/funeral. :) It was so great to meet all the other Core Groupies and more people from the church. The more Patrick and I get involved with Homewood Church of Christ, the more comfortable we feel there. We are so excited to have found what we believe will be a great church home for us and a group where we feel like family. 

This next weekend will be great, because my little (BIG) bro is staying with us for a night! He's coming Saturday for plenty of July 4 fun. We'll eat good and play video games, stay up late, etc. It should be great fun. And I am SO EXCITED for it to be a three-day weekend ... you just don't even know. 

On to more important things, such as Harry Potter ... two weeks until the movie!! Patrick and I are already planning to see it at least four times. Once right when it comes out, probably once again with friends, once in IMAX to see it in 3-D and once with my little bro at the closed-captioned theater in Trussville. It's going to be AWESOME. We've seen a couple of movies so far this summer -- "Star Trek," "Transformers 2" -- but I expect "Harry Potter" to be the best of the bunch. Although I have to say, "Star Trek" did blow my mind. It was a fantastic flick and one I really, really recommend to anybody. And I am NOT a Star Trek fan. All of my girlfriends that have seen the movie absolutely loved it. 

Meanwhile, I would recommend only seeing "Transformers 2" if you really, really liked the first one. The second one was a lot of fun, but there were definitely some jokes that were not really intended for girls. For example, the audience is treated to a big, swinging set of bronze cojones on one of the Decepticons (bad robots) ... and then the joke is "Hey, I'm under the robot scrotum!" -- Exactly. Hilarious.

Other than that, we've just been moving along. I've been learning a few new songs; of note are "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon and "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston. Playing some Rock Band, watching "Boston Legal" and "The X-Files." You know how it is. 

OK, so update: officially over. I will try to update more often, especially, as things happen. But I do love you all, and I hope I find you again in good health and happy times!!

Frustrating day

RIP BEA ... WE HARDLY KNEW YE

Yeah, so it's been a really frustrating day. A few highlights (or lowlights):

1. Drove four hours, round-trip, to get me added on to some of Patrick's insurance. Why did we drive four hours? Because we had made two prior home appointments, but the insurance agents forgot to show up.

2. Patrick's computer had some major problems this morning and is pretty close to death, so we ended up buying an entire new desktop computer today. Which is fine, since we planned to buy it next month anyways, but still. Not expected.

3. Our house's A/C is out. This is probably the worst development of the day, especially since the rental company said they weren't sure if someone would make it out to the house tomorrow or not. Fun. We did go to Wal-Mart and buy a box fan, so we're protected against the heat somewhat. 

4. Since our house's A/C is out, we can't do anything tomorrow until they call and let us know if they're coming or not. Stuck in a sauna-like prison of a home all day? Sweet!

5. I burned the baby back ribs that I spent four hours cooking. While this wasn't a huge deal, this is what finally made me cry.

6. Bea Arthur (Dorothy from Golden Girls) died today. R.I.P. Bea, you will forever be remembered for being a friend.

However, some good things that happened today:

1. We got our new computer! :) It is pretty awesome. It's a Gateway "gaming supercomputer," whatever that means, and it looks all futuristic and such. It completes our new home office very well. 

2. We got to see my mother-in-law, Pam. She is awesome. 

3. We get to see Dad and Trey (my little bro) tomorrow!! And they're treating us to lunch at Baumhauer's! Double yay!

4. Sen'Derrick Marks, an Auburn defensive lineman, got drafted in the second round of the NFL draft today. Seeing as how I am a major nerd, I love the NFL draft, and I love it when Auburn players get drafted.

Prayer requests:

Please pray that someone will come out and fix our A/C ... no A/C in Alabama can be a bad situation. And please pray that Patrick and I will be able to enjoy tomorrow, 'cause we sure haven't enjoyed today that much. 

KT's wedding!

Well, this past weekend was an eventful one. I was in my friend Katie (which I sometimes spell KT)'s wedding in our hometown, Talladega ... she was one of my bridesmaids too, so I guess it was payback time! :) No, really, the wedding was awesome. It was such a packed weekend! Friday night, we had the dress rehearsal and dinner (which I managed to show up late for ... the invitation said dinner at 5:30, and I completely forgot there would be a rehearsal before dinner! DUH!). After the rehearsal, we had a big swanky party to go to hosted by about 40 people. I saw people there I have not seen in years and years. I was so tired that night! 

Next day, we had a BBQ luncheon (I know, crazy, right?) and then hanging out as a group until the wedding at 5, and then the reception went until 9 p.m.! (I didn't stay that late, though -- my feet were killing me!) I think it was exactly the wedding KT and Riley wanted, and I'm so honored to have been a part of it! 

Our dresses were so adorable ... they were that shimmery pink, the color of a sunset -- which was the inspiration for KT's wedding plans! I'll definitely be wearing this time and again -- expect to see it at every wedding I go to! :)

Obviously, this is the beautiful bride and two other bridesmaids. Rachael and Carly were both awesome -- I didn't know them before the wedding but it was so great to meet them! I may never see them again, but it was great to share this special moment in KT's life with them. 

This is me with KT before she got dressed ... you can see what she looked like better! It's crazy -- we've been really close friends since 6th grade, and here we are, both wives and just starting our new lives! KT means the world to me, though -- if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be the person I am today. She's one of the most fun, funniest people I know!

KT and Riley are on a mini-tour of Europe for the honeymoon -- they're visiting Paris, Amsterdam and Germany this week. After that, they'll move on to Roanoke, Va., and who knows what from there. I may not see KT much anymore, but I'm so glad we were part of each other's special days! Y'all please pray for her and Riley, that they might have a successful marriage and learn to live together in the light of the Lord. (That was a lot of alliteration, but it sounded good!) 

Just whatever

So we're watching "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for, like, the billionth time, and I just thought it might be a good time to blog. 

Interesting HP note: Apparently in the next movie (only three more months!!!) they're not going to include Dumbledore's funeral. I have no idea how they can get away with that. Anyhow, on with the blog!

Last night was a lot of fun -- we went and had dinner with our Core Groupies at Jim N Nick's, then played the Newlywed Game back at the church. Patrick and I kind of sucked -- we only got seven out of 20 questions right. I guess we're doing pretty well, though, considering we've only been married four months. I do have to say, though, that the worst answer of the night from him was when he said Philip Seymour Hoffman was my favorite actor. I mean, what?! But he totally saved face when he got the question, "At what age does a woman hit her physical peak?" He turned around, looked at me, and said, "What age are you? 23!!!" That's my baby.

Today has totally been a be lazy kind of day. We've watched one of my favorites, "Hellboy," and one of his favorites, "Cliffhanger." (Which just proved that Sylvester Stallone might have been the greatest actor of his generation.) I've cooked a couple of meals, taken a nap, and Patrick has played, like, five hours of Legend of Zelda. But it's been a really good day. 

Tomorrow should be awesome too, if busier. We're going to Easter service in the morning, then I think we're just going to come home and chill. We had hoped to go to my parents' house for Easter dinner, but we've got too much to do, and we want to relax too. I'm hoping to find recipes for next week, go grocery shopping and then just come home and stay here in a semi-comatose state. :)

Just an update

Hello, loyal readers --

I know, I've sucked at keeping up with the blog lately. I'm sorry. It's been a really busy couple of weeks. 

*I know some of you have heard about this, but I wanted to update everyone on Meg. Basically, for those of you who don't know, my maid of honor, Meg, went into the hospital almost two weeks ago with a bacterial infection in her stomach and a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in her lung). It was a scary time for me and Patrick, mostly because it was one of the first times we've ever had to deal with that kind of situation. Meg means the world to us, and last weekend, we went down to Auburn for a night just to spend some time with her in the hospital and to stay with our good friend, Cliff. She was doing very well then, and thank the good Lord, she's doing better now! She went home this past Tuesday and is now on blood thinners in pill form, which is much better than getting them in shot form. I'm pretty sure she's going to go back to school tomorrow, so she'll be getting back into the swing of things soon.

*Mine and Patrick's bracket got horribly busted, as our pick to win it all, Louisville, went out in the Elite 8. Blast it. Oh well, UNC was my back-up pick and, honestly, my favorite team in the field. So ... go Tar Heels!

*Happy news -- Patrick and I are going to Hot-lanta in October to see U2! For those of you who don't know, U2 is basically Patrick's favorite band of all time, and we're going for his birthday, so we're doubly excited. I think we're going to make a little vacation out of it and maybe stay at the Ritz-Carlton (ooh, classy!) Why not, right? Our seats for the concert are awesome, too -- they're thisclose to the stage!

OK, I think that's all for now.